Starting in late October, Southwest made WiFi free for all Rapid Rewards members on every flight. Free WiFi sounds like a great improvement, but the implementation has created one unexpected issue.
Before October, WiFi cost $8 per segment but texting (iMessage and Whatsapp), streaming movies, TV shows, and some live TV channels were always free. WiFi was also free for A-List Preferred members, Business Select tickets and refundable with the Chase Performance Business credit card. The latter was a perk I used frequently earlier in the year.
So, what’s the issue?
Free WiFi is great….if it works. In the past it was common that the WiFI would not work, or be so slow that it was useless, but the TV streaming and texting worked great. With the new system, the streaming hasn’t changed and still generally works well, but the WiFI itself is very inconsistent. What’s changed, and caused me the most problems, is that the texting capability has moved to be bundled with the WiFI, not with the streaming capability. This means texting is now much less accessible than it was before.
I don’t know why Southwest made this change. It is definitely a first-world problem, but it is frustrating when something that worked well no longer does. Last week, over about 8 hours of flying, I would estimate the WiFI was working for only about 20% of the time across 4 segments. It’s a great benefit when it’s working, but when it’s not, it is now less capable than before.
Hopefully things improve over time and more users on the network don’t further erode speeds. On previous flights where things were working, I was able to stream in the Paramount+ app without too many issues, which was great.
What has your experience been with the Southwest WiFI?
TL;DR: Southwest rolled out free WiFi which is great but unexpectedly bundled the previously reliable texting capability with the general WiFI, making it less available compared to streaming video they offer.
